Celia Paul @ Victoria Miro

Memory and Desire, is an exhibition of new paintings by Celia Paul, whose art is founded on deep connections – familial and creative.  Her art threads back and forth across time – to people and places; is self-assuredly quiet, contemplative and ultimately moving in its attention to detail, and intensely felt spirituality.

This exhibition of new paintings coincides with the publication of Letters to Gwen John, a new book by the artist, which centres on a series of letters addressed to Gwen John (1876–1939), a tutelary spirit for Paul. Through the epistolary form, Paul draws fruitful comparisons between John’s life and her own: their shared resolve to protect the sources of their creativity, their fierce commitment to painting, and the ways in which their associations with older male artists affected the public’s reception of their work.